In today's technologically-driven society, interactive glass surfaces and displays are at the forefront of innovation and, while not yet ubiquitous, will become increasingly popular with users in the coming years. This is particularly true considering the very rapid commercial acceptance of products that utilize touchscreen technologies such as touchscreen phones, tablets, computers, televisions, and displays. As a result, users will have many more opportunities to interact with such interactive glass surfaces or other similar surfaces. For example, network-connected computers can display computer interfaces on a glass table for users sitting at the table during a meeting; glass walls can have interfaces that users can interact with to perform a variety of functions; sliding glass doors in homes can have computer displays that users can interact with, and patient bedrooms in hospitals can have glass walls that doctors can use to view medical information.
As interactive glass surfaces become more widespread, the chances of users or objects colliding with such glass surfaces will increase substantially. Unfortunately, glass surfaces can be quite dangerous to those who do not see them. A user that collides with an interactive glass surface can incur significant injuries or even cause the glass to shatter or malfunction. For example, if an interactive glass surface is used in a hospital, two doctors discussing and walking at the same time may collide with a clear interactive glass display. Also, kids running around a household may accidentally run into interactive glass doors or other displays and sustain serious injuries. Additionally, users may accidentally place inappropriate materials on a computer display that may ultimately damage the display. Furthermore, when a person is walking in the dark in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, the person may walk right into an interactive glass display. Although the future of interactive displays is exciting, there are many unique nuances associated with the use of interactive displays.